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.243 ammo for deer

7K views 36 replies 31 participants last post by  cspot 
#1 ·
Hey, I'm planning on taking my .243 out on the opener and was wondering what brand and grain of bullet ya'll would recommend to do the most damage on a deer. Since its not really one of the "bigger" rounds, I just want to pick the most lethal one I can find. Obviously I know shot placement is foremost, but I'm just looking for some suggestions. Thanks
 
#12 ·
Just my opinion but I would be cautious using anything of lighter construction(hornady sst nosler ballistic tip etc etc) traditional 100 grain soft points are ok, but I have personally seen the sst's blowup and give bad penetration at close range the superformance is just going to make it worse. That being said those bullets also can give spectacular kills, its all the range and where you hit them(don't want to hit heavy bone) 100 grain partition to me is the best 243 load out there but corelokts are pretty good.
 
#13 ·
I have a buddy with a large tract of land where he has quite a few kids hunting almost always using 243's(one uses a 6mm but its basically the same thing) They have tried a lot of different ammo in search of the perfect 243 round over the years. SST's and similar can be spectacular but can fail on shoulder shots, corelokts and interlocks were pretty good but not as fast killing as the sst's, their search stopped with the exact load you listed 100 grain nosler partition wide fast wounding but won't fail to penetrate!
 
#15 ·
I reload and use the 85gr Sierra HPBT.An older guy in his 80's uses the 100grs.Both kill.I have busted shoulders but do target the lungs.As with any caliber,as long as you hit them in the heart or lungs they just ain't gonna live!
This girl was looking right at me at 80yds.Hit her square in the chest.She sure coughed up allot of blood from her lungs in the 30yds she lived.Made a nice 3 foot wide path to follow.
Pictures 487 by t410er, on Flickr
 
#30 ·
My boys have shot 8 deer with the 243. None have gone far but can only remember a good blood trail on one...most had no blood trail....very difficult to find if they go into the switchgrass on the farm we hunt...my youngest shot a buck yesterday...liver shot at 35 yards....no exit wound...no blood trail...traveled about 100yds....lucky to find him...will be switching to a larger cal next year...
 
#31 ·
What bullet were you using? I have seen spectacular performance from the ballistic tips and SSt's but I have also seen failures, they simply don't penetrate that well. On the flip side the barnes ttsx will exit from pretty much any angle which you should be shooting, thing is it can be slow killing on lung shots, especially at some distance. Partition is the best blend of both opens real fast but still penetrates even on heavy bone. In a larger caliber with heavier bullet, even a 150 grain 30 cal, will almost always give full penetration even with a lightly contructed bullet they are more forgiving because of the extra penetration but with good shots they don't kill them any quicker.
 
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